12-4 this year and we're a winning franchise

[Gman was right]

Ok i have looked over the schedule, we could beat any team any sunday,

Philly- they dont run the ball, they can be beat with short passes

ATL- div foe we can and have beat them

Dallas- they lose a wr and made no improvments in their secondary

Was- they are good early, but QB play is suspect as is ther d-line

TB div foe...QB situation sucks

Buf- TO factor

ARZ- revenge

NO- Div Foe

ATL div for

Miami- wildcat bread and butter, LB corps can stop it

NYJ-? at QB, RB

TB- div foe

NE- will brady be 100percent, Aging defense

Minn- TJ or Sage, really??

NYG- is Plaxico replaced?

NO- Div Foe

Every team can be beat, they all have questions goin into the season...

Every team can be beaten. But all of these teams could easily beat us. We're not going to win 12 times next year. Not without any cup cakes on the schedule.

[Gman was right]

I agree we needed to upgrade at DT, but with no money to spend in FA and no first round pick it was almost impossible to end up with anything put a project at that position. We may be average at that position, but we compinsate with one of the best LB corps in the league. No team has dominate players at every position, and our defense can still improve without an upgrade at DT. Marshall will be better than lucas, godfrey will get better, and we got Brown.

Our linebackers will SUFFER because of our average defensive line. Not the other way around. Linebackers need a good defensive line to free them up. Brown is still an unknown. Im certainly not pinning all my hopes on him.

[d-run]

Our linebackers will SUFFER because of our average defensive line. Not the other way around. Linebackers need a good defensive line to free them up. Brown is still an unknown. Im certainly not pinning all my hopes on him.

Its the same defensive line we had last year with the addition of brown. Our backers did fine last year.

[Kyle82]

Damn I'm ready to get this season rolling!! :driving:

[hdevonxz]

John Fox already has a winning record.

[Gman was right]

Its the same defensive line we had last year with the addition of brown. Our backers did fine last year.

They did well but I wouldnt say they were the greatest LB core in the league. Kemo and Lewis are now in their 30's. If you thought they were only average last year just imagine how average they'll be now. This was our biggest area of need and we werent able to adress it. Teams will be running down our throat this year with this average defensive line.

[N1kkadeemuz]

Why is this guy posing as a fan, in every thread he bashes anything anyone says about the Panthers, please play in traffic sir.

[Jangler]

[Doc Holiday]

Nah, I can definitely say it. No chiefs, raiders, lions, packers, broncos, etc on this years schedule. There is a ZERO percent chance we win 12 games. The very best I can see is 9-7 but most likely we are staring 7-9 or 8-8 in the face.

This is one of the Great faults in your argument, the assumption that just because we don't play a few gimmie games means we wont go 12-4 is funny as hell, the Packers and Broncos were in the Playoff hunt still when we played them and the Broncos were leading the AFCW at the moment, SOS from year to year is based off the previous season not the season that your playing, every year there are teams that are far better then expected and there are teams that turn out to be far worse then expected.

For a quick example for all the issues we have right now I still say that the Saints and the Falcons who I think will be our 2 biggest competitors this season in the NFCS and as well as the Bucs for that matter all have a huge weakness that could cause us to sweep the NFCS, all of those teams are soft up the middle of they're defense, the Saints D is still weak like last season, the Falcons have gotten a whole lot weaker up the middle, yes they drafted that DT in the first, b ut if he's any good at all remains to be seen, and the Bucs haven't done anything to my knowledge to change anything to make them better on Offense or Defense over last season.

Our biggest strength on our team is our running game, and our O-line, and you you put "explosive running game + a great O-line + weak defenses up the middle = a lot of points for the Panthers.

This could be huge for us, yet you don't see that fact.

[Brandon]

You can over look the schedule if you wish. Its just a fact that we went 12-4 because of the cup cakes we faced last year and its just a fact that this schedule doesnt have any cup cakes.

Oh just shut up and quit being an ignorant tool. Last year everyone thought we'd suck because there was no way we could deal with the Chargers, Packers, Saints, Bears, etc because the strength of schedule heading into last year wasn't favorable. And on top of that we supposedly at this point last year had no offensive line, didn't know if Jake could even play, had no defense, didn't know of JP could bounce back, had no running game, and we were unsure if we even had a capable receiver on the team other than Steve Smith despite the return of Moose. Only a minute portion of the people on this board actually picked us to go 12-4, most expected 7-9, 8-8, or 9-7. What does all this mean? It means trying to predict how we will do in 3.5 months is entirely meaningless. Quit trying to be the counter-fan and for once actually cheer for this team, people like you make me sick.

Oh yeah and heading into the Packers game last year many people, Panthers fan or not, doubted we'd even make the playoffs let alone finish 12-4. So again, please keep your mouth shut.

[AKPantherFan]

thats a hard mark to hit,

11-5 this season...

[Brandon]

thats a hard mark to hit,

11-5 this season...

I think we'll more than likely finish around the 10-6 or 11-5 mark, and an exponentially lower chance of a given record the further it deviates from those two potential finishes.

[Gman was right]

This is one of the Great faults in your argument, the assumption that just because we don't play a few gimmie games means we wont go 12-4 is funny as hell, the Packers and Broncos were in the Playoff hunt still when we played them and the Broncos were leading the AFCW at the moment, SOS from year to year is based off the previous season not the season that your playing, every year there are teams that are far better then expected and there are teams that turn out to be far worse then expected.

For a quick example for all the issues we have right now I still say that the Saints and the Falcons who I think will be our 2 biggest competitors this season in the NFCS and as well as the Bucs for that matter all have a huge weakness that could cause us to sweep the NFCS, all of those teams are soft up the middle of they're defense, the Saints D is still weak like last season, the Falcons have gotten a whole lot weaker up the middle, yes they drafted that DT in the first, b ut if he's any good at all remains to be seen, and the Bucs haven't done anything to my knowledge to change anything to make them better on Offense or Defense over last season.

Our biggest strength on our team is our running game, and our O-line, and you you put "explosive running game + a great O-line + weak defenses up the middle = a lot of points for the Panthers.

This could be huge for us, yet you don't see that fact.

Green Bay was 5-7 when we played them and Denver was only in playoff contention because they were leading in the worst division in football at the time. But they were still an average team. Face it, we feasted on cup cake teams last year but people are in denial about it because the truth embarrasses them just like they were embarrassed when I told them about how we have the worst atmosphere and fans than any other team in sports history. Quit living in denial and wake up from this dream world you live in. There are no cup cake teams on this schedule like last year.

How have the falcons gotten worse on defense? Everyone they released was an aging has been. Peria Jerry and Lawrence Sidbury were steals in the draft plus they added Mike Peterson at LB. The falcons defense is much better than ours and they also had a BETTER running and passing game than us last year as well which will only be better now tha they have Gonzolez. Face it, we will likely finish in 3rd place in the division next year. Quit being a homer and just accept it.

[Gman was right]

Oh just shut up and quit being an ignorant tool. Last year everyone thought we'd suck because there was no way we could deal with the Chargers, Packers, Saints, Bears, etc because the strength of schedule heading into last year wasn't favorable. And on top of that we supposedly at this point last year had no offensive line, didn't know if Jake could even play, had no defense, didn't know of JP could bounce back, had no running game, and we were unsure if we even had a capable receiver on the team other than Steve Smith despite the return of Moose. Only a minute portion of the people on this board actually picked us to go 12-4, most expected 7-9, 8-8, or 9-7. What does all this mean? It means trying to predict how we will do in 3.5 months is entirely meaningless. Quit trying to be the counter-fan and for once actually cheer for this team, people like you make me sick.

Oh yeah and heading into the Packers game last year many people, Panthers fan or not, doubted we'd even make the playoffs let alone finish 12-4. So again, please keep your mouth shut.

Boy you're really in denial arent you? No one thought we were going to suck last year because we had the 23rd hardest schedule going into the year. It would have been impossible not to win at least 10 games with the cup cakes we had to play. So quit making stuff up and hiding behind your embarrassment. We took advantage of a cup cake schedule and that is a fact! No cup cakes this year buddy! And we were 9-3 going into the packers game. Dont tell me no one thought we wouldnt make the playoffs. Thats a lie and you know it! You are just living in denial!